The Story of Persephone

Demeter was the Goddess of the Corn. She had given this most important crop to the mortals and they loved her for it. She was the Golden Goddess of Summer and it was she who made the Earth bloom and the crops grow. Demeter's gifts helped mankind to survive.

Demeter had one child, her beloved daughter Persephone, the maiden of Spring.

Persephone was very beautiful and very kind.

One day when Persephone was out gathering flowers she was seen by Hades, the God of the Underworld. His home was the land of the dead, a cold, dark place. So when Hades saw Persephone, as beautiful as a spring flower, he fell instantly and hopelessly in love with her. He jumped onto his chariot and, rising up through a chasm in the Earth, grabbed Persephone. Driving faster than the wind he carried her down, down into his kingdom in the Underworld.

Demeter heard Persephone's cries and rushed to rescue her daughter -- but alas, Persephone had vanished! Poor Demeter was frantic, as any mother would be. She searched everywhere but no one would tell her where the girl had gone. At last she asked the Sun, who rode high in the sky and saw everything. He told her the awful story -- Persephone, the maiden of Springtime, sunshine and beautiful flowers was down beneath the Earth in the shadowy underworld of the dead.

At hearing this, Demeter's sadness was complete. She left Olympus, the home of the Gods, and went to live on Earth in the temple men had built to honor her. She took with her the gifts of Summertime and the corn. That year was most dreadful and cruel for mankind. Winter came and with it bitter cold. Nothing grew. No seeds sprang up. It seemed the whole race of men would die.

At last Zeus sent Hermes, the messenger god, to tell Hades he would have to let Persephone go.

Hades couldn't bear to lose his love though, so he tricked her into eating pomegranate seeds. This magical fruit would force Persephone to return to Hades whenever he called her.

So Hermes brought Persephone home to her mother. Her return brought back the Spring and Demeter's joy brought back the Summer. The Goddess made the fields abundant with fruit and corn. She made the whole world bright with flowers and green leaves.

But her joy was short-lived. Because Persephone had eaten the pomegranate seeds she was under Hades power and would have to return to whenever he called her!

Demeter was heartsick and threatened to freeze the Earth forever if her daughter was taken from her again.

No one wanted the mortals to have to suffer, but neither Demeter nor Hades would give in.

Finally Rhea, the mother of Zeus and a Goddess of great age and great wisdom, came up with a compromise. For eight months out of the year Persephone would live in Olympus with her mother. For the other four months she would return to the Underworld as Hades' wife.

So it is that for eight months the world experiences Demeter's joy when she has her beloved daughter by her side. As the time for Persephone to leave draws closer, mother and daughter become sadder and Fall comes upon the Earth. When Hades calls Persephone from the world of the living Demeter's grief brings Winter with its icy cold and snow. The land of man remains bound in Winter until Persephone comes back, bringing Spring time with her.

This story was told to explain the changing of the seasons. Our ancestors didn't know about the movement of the Earth on its journey around the Sun, so they couldn't understand why Summer was replaced by Winter. The story of Persephone and Hades was one of many told to try to explain this great mystery. This particular version is based on a story by a man name Homer. He wrote it in the early seventh century, 1300 years ago. Excerpts from A

WICCAN PRIMER: Rituals for Children C 1996 Wind*Dancer